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P. Simmons, Attorney

Category: Legal

Satisfied Customers: 38485

Experience: 16 yrs. of trial experience

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I have one brother that willingly disowned his entire blood

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I have one brother that willingly disowned his entire blood family. He made multiple statements that he wanted nothing in the way of inheritance and was completely removed from all proceeding after our father passed by choice. Prior to my father’s death, my father removed him from all funds and insurancepolicies and made me sole beneficiary with the exception of one he forgot. I was told by the company (Jackson National Life) that I could take the matter to probate court or have my brother contact Jackson and simply dis-allow funds making me the sole beneficiary. Being a kind (stupid) person I chose to make contact with my brother and give him the opportunity to take care of the matter without going to court. My brother took the money and ran. Without surprise he has gone rouge without even a ha ha.Do I have any recourse in this case?ThanksJA: The Lawyer can help you determine if you have a case. Where are you located? These laws vary by state.Customer: Fresno, CaliforniaJA: Anything else you want the lawyer to know before I connect you?Customer: I don't think so

1. I am a user of this website just like you. I have no insight into your account, what you are paying for the question, if you have subscribed for a reoccurring fee, etc. IF you have questions regarding the website, I would urge you to contact customer support (there will be an option on your interface to reach customer support).2. This website will likely send you an offer for a telephone call. This offer is sent by the website (I have no control over this). You can feel free to accept the offer if you wish to speak on the phone or to decline if you prefer to type back and forth.3. I will likely have questions about the information you provide, if you can respond to the questions, that will help me understand your circumstances and provide the best possible answer for you. 4. As we communicate, there may be a delay, rest assured if I am delayed responding it is because I am delayed on another matter and will respond to you as quickly as I can.

We were co-beneficiaries on everything. My father had multiple mutual funds, cash, and insurance policies. When my brother told him he wanted nothing, my father contacted all is fund managers, account reps, etc. and had my brother removed. He forgot to do the same for this one insurance policy.

What you are describing, if the $38K was “his” (meaning he was the named beneficiary)? You have an uphill battle to try and recover that money. You could hire a lawyer….and open probate…and try and sue to recover that money…but I fear that would be a waste of resources.

What you are describing, I understand your father wanted to remove the brother from all accounts. And it sounds like he was mostly successful…it seems he forgot one.

But the problem you have is that he forgot…and his forgetting is not a basis to void the policy. At all.

You can hire a lawyer…and open probate…and you may even be able to convince the probate court judge that this was a mistake. But even if you do all of that? Life insurance policies pass outside of probate…And your brother was the named beneficiary on the policy. Unless you have evidence that your father applied for the chance to the beneficiary and that the company made the mistake? The judge is not going to change the policy.

Basically, to sue and win you have to prove that your father made a written request to change the beneficiary and that the insurance company failed to honor his request.

This is the part of my job I don't like...when the law is not in favor of my customer. I wish I could tell you that you can keep your brother from taking this money but I can only provide you information based on the law so that you can act on the best available information to you...I wish I had better news, but can only hope you recognize and understand my predicament and don't shoot the messenger. I'm sorry!

Please let me know if you have more questions. I am happy to help if I can. Otherwise, please rate the answer so I may get credit for my work.

Thanks for that. As I mentioned I was prepared to let that money rot away before giving my brother the opportunity to claim it. He had refused calls and letters informing him he needed to take action. The Fund manager was an ***** ***** agent and they wanted the account off their books. That's when I contacted Jackson. My father passed March 11, 2016. Has is been to long?

It has not been to long to file a claim to try and prove that the insurance company made a mistake...but from a practical standpoint, unless you have the "smoking gun" (e.g. proof your father made the demand in writing to change the beneficiary and that the insurance company ignored the demand) you would be wasting your resources...you would not win unless you have such evidence